Haycraft-Queen Cornerstones

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Murder For Pleasure (Book), 180 Books

A list of "cornerstone" detective novels first published by editor and publisher Howard Haycraft in 1941 book "Murder For Pleasure", and later updated by Ellery Queen in the '50s.

This list was originally published in 1955 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
17010 The Case Of The Velvet Claws Erle Stanley Gardner 1933 American English
17010 Death Of A Ghost Margery Allingham 1934 British English
624 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
14810 Fer De Lance Rex Stout 1934 American English
467 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
17010 The Murder Of My Aunt Richard Hull 1934 British English
17010 No Hero John P. Marquand 1935 American English
2456 The League Of Frightened Men Rex Stout 1935 American English
2578 Trial And Error Anthony Berkeley 1937 British English
1511 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
17010 The Crooked Hinge John Dickson Carr 1937 American English
3183 The Judas Window Carter Dickson 1938 British English
17010 Lament For A Maker Michael Innes 1938 British English
17010 The Listening House Mabel Seeley 1938 American English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
219 Brighton Rock Graham Greene 1938 British English
17010 The Nursemaid Who Disappeared Philip MacDonald 1938 British English
17010 Death From A Top Hat Clayton Rawson 1938 American English
789 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
17010 Overture To Death Ngaio Marsh 1939 New Zealander English
17010 The Mysterious Mickey Finn Elliot Paul 1938 American English
595 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
17010 Drink To Yesterday Manning Coles 1940 British English
17010 Pray Silence Manning Coles 1940 British English
17010 The So Blue Marble Dorothy B. Hughes 1940 American English
17010 The Norths Meet Murder Frances Lockridge, Richard Lockridge 1940 American English
17010 Verdict Of Twelve Raymond Postgate 1940 British English
17010 The Patience Of Maigret Georges Simenon 1965 Belgian French
17010 Trial By Fury Craig Rice 1941 American English
17010 A Taste For Honey H.F. Heard 1941 British English
17010 Rocket To The Morgue Anthony Boucher 1942 American English
17010 The Just And The Unjust James Gould Cozzens 1942 American English
2680 Calamity Town Ellery Queen 1942 American English
14126 The Bride Wore Black Cornell Woolrich 1940 American English
3491 Laura Vera Caspary 1943 American English
17010 Blood Upon The Snow Hilda Lawrence 1946 American English
17010 The Adventures Of Sam Spade Dashiell Hammett 1944 American English
1211 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
14901 The Horizontal Man Helen Eustis 1945 American English
17010 The Unsuspected Charlotte Armstrong 1945 American English
17010 Dr Sam Johnson, Detector Lilian De la Torre 1946 American English
17010 The Curse Of The Bronze Lamp Carter Dickson 1945 British English
17010 The Department Of Dead Ends Roy Vickers 1954 British English
17010 A Case To Answer Edgar Lustgarten 1947 British English
17010 Wisteria Cottage Robert M. Coates 1948 American English
17010 Love Lies Bleeding Edmund Crispin 1948 British English
17010 Dreadful Summit Stanley Ellin 1948 American English
1264 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
3127 Intruder in the Dust William Faulkner 1948 American English
17010 The Moving Target Ross Macdonald 1950 American English
17010 Mischief Charlotte Armstrong 1950 American English
17010 The Simple Art Of Murder Raymond Chandler 1950 American English
17010 The People Against O'hara Eleazar Lipsky 1950 American English
17010 Through A Glass, Darkly Helen McCloy 1950 American English
17010 The Motive Evelyn Piper 1950 American English
17010 Blues For The Prince Bart Spicer 1950 Unknown English
17010 Nightmare In Manhattan Thomas Walsh 1950 American English
17010 A Gentle Murderer Dorothy Salisbury Davis 1951 American English
17010 The Little Tales Of Smethers And Other Stories Lord Dunsany 1952 British English